Claim: A video depicts recent protests in Iran.
Fact: The video predates the recent nationwide protests in Iran. It surfaced online as early as November 2025, and likely originated in Greece.
Several social media users posted a video purportedly showing the protests in Iran in January 2026.
One such post shared the clip (archive) and wrote: “Revolution is real in Iran as more than 2 millions Iranians off to the streets and major cities.
Massive anti-government protests are currently sweeping across all 31 provinces of Iran as of January 11, 2026…”
What is happening in Iran?
A heavy crackdown by Iran to quell the nationwide protests convulsed the country in January, with reports of thousands dead and injured emerging amid a government-imposed communication shutdown that remains in place.
The demonstrations began on 28 December 2025 after the Iranian currency plummeted against the dollar, reaching an all-time low. Shopkeepers and merchants in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar staged a strike which eventually spread to several cities and multiple provinces, becoming a broader demonstration against the regime.
The Iranian government used violent force to suppress (archive) the demonstrations. On 27January, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said that 6,221 people had been killed during the demonstrations, with 17,091 additional deaths still under investigation. 11,017 people were severely injured, according to the same agency, and the number of people detained stood at 42,324.
Reuters cited an Iranian official as saying the death toll stood at 5,000.
An all-out communication services blockage has been imposed by the regime since 8 January, making it difficult for Iranian families abroad to reach their loved ones back home and for news organisations to verify the death toll independently.
US President Donald Trump warned that the US would intervene and take “very strong action” against Iran if it executes demonstrators. However, later, Trump suggested adopting a wait-and-see posture, adding that he has been told the Iranian government’s crackdown on the protests was subsiding, Reuters reported.
According to The Washington Post (archive), Trump said that Iranian authorities had cancelled plans to execute 800 protesters. The report added that a senior U.S. envoy told Trump “that Iran had cancelled the executions and that this development, along with pressure from regional allies, limits on U.S. military resources and concerns over unpredictable fallout, had led him to refrain from ordering strikes last week.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, acknowledged that thousands of people were killed during the protests for the first time recently. He called Trump a “criminal” for supporting protests in Iran and blamed demonstrators for causing deaths.
The brutal crackdown by authorities has suppressed the protests largely, The New York Times reported on 19 January.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched keyframes from the video and found it predates the protests in Iran.
The initial search yielded a post (archive) by X user @ArsenKeklikoglu, from 12 January 2026, which pointed out that the video was from Greece, not Iran. The user pointed this out by quoting a 10 January X post, which had wrongly linked the same clip to the widespread protests in Iran.
According to the user, the video was actually from “Tsimiski street, Thessaloniki, #Greece (YMCA/ΧΑΝΘ Square)”, and was originally shared on TikTok in November 2025.
Soch Fact Check then analysed the TikTok clip (archive) in question from 2 November 2025, and found that its keyframes match those of the video being fact-checked. This confirmed that the video predates the ongoing unrest in Iran.
A comparison of the video’s keyframes with the 2 November 2025 version shared on TikTok.
A reverse-image search and a keyword search also yielded fact-checks from credible outlets that debunked the same claim. AFP, for instance, also found that the video is not from Iran. It was posted as early as November 2025 and actually depicts “conflicts that occurred in the Greek city of Thessaloniki after a concert”, the fact-check concluded.
AFP also found other links to the same footage on Facebook and Instagram, which were posted on 2 November 2025.
Misbar also fact-checked the video, and their findings show it is from November 2025 in Greece.
Soch Fact Check, therefore, rates the claim false.
Virality
The video appeared on X here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
On Instagram here, here, here, here, here and here.
The clip was shared on Facebook here, here and here.
On Threads here.
Conclusion: The video predates the recent deadly protests in Iran. It surfaced as early as November 2025, and likely shows Greece.
Background image in cover photo: Anadolou Agency
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